A Texas court had said that Russeau's Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him had been violated during the penalty phase of his trial. He was convicted in the 2001 death of 75-year-old James Syvertson.

Moormann was on a prison furlough when he was accused of killing his 74-year-old adoptive mother at a motel close to the prison, cutting her body into pieces and putting it in several trash bins. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had said a lower court should consider Moormann's claims of poor lawyering.